


Interview With An Alpha

by Lilia



Series: Bohème Rhapsody [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Alpha Peter Hale, Alpha Theo Raeken, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Gen, Omega Verse, Sex Work, Sex Worker Theo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 06:44:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9479873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilia/pseuds/Lilia
Summary: “You want me to meet with someone named Cody Knots? Is this a joke?” Peter demanded.His nephew looked even more constipated than usual. “Cody Knots is, uh, his stage name. His real name is Theo Raeken. He sent a list of references when he requested the appointment.”“An Alpha porn star wants an appointment with me?"Prequel to Bohème Rhapsody, filling out events mentioned in chapter 2. Basic Background: the same day Peter Hale announced he was running for the U.S. Senate, his omega mistress, Lydia Martin, discovered she's pregnant and left him.  Now a few weeks later, an Alpha sex worker named Theo Raeken requests an interview.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: I couldn't figure out how to tag for this, but be aware that Peter Hale's attitude reflects still common social prejudices against sex workers, including use of the word "whore."
> 
> I tagged the main relationships mentioned in the story.
> 
> Comments are hugely appreciated.

“You want me to meet with someone named Cody Knots? Is this a joke?” Peter demanded.

His nephew looked even more constipated than usual. “Cody Knots is, uh, his stage name. His real name is Theo Raeken. He sent a list of references when he requested the appointment.”

“An Alpha porn star wants an appointment with _me_? Did you and Laura start an adult-film sideline without telling me?”

Predictably, Derek looked aghast— _Lord, he was too easy_. “Of course not,” he sputtered.

“Then I really don’t understand.” It was then that Peter caught the unmistakable scent of guilt leeching into his office. “Derek,” he growled. “Explain why a porn star wants to meet with the head of the Hale pack?”

His nephew winced. “He lives in the same building as Lydia and Stiles.”

“You moved Lydia into a building with a strange Alpha?” The room went red and the desk cracked under Peter’s grip. Whether due to Lydia’s leaving him or this idiotic senate campaign, Peter’s anger was always dangerously close to the surface these days, and it was all he could do to stop himself from throwing Derek through the window.

“You think I’d let someone hurt her or Stiles!” Derek was outraged, which helped Peter get his own aggression under control. “I warned Raeken the day she moved in that if he so much as glanced her way, he would answer to the Hale pack.”

Peter shook his head at Derek’s ridiculous scruples. Peter wouldn’t have bothered with a warning when it would have been simpler to just kill him—after all, it wasn’t like the Alpha had a pack which might retaliate or demand reparations. Then again, Peter wouldn’t have allowed Lydia to leave his house in the first place, a misuse of authority she would _never_ have forgiven, so it probably was better that Derek was managing matters with his darling angel.

“Will you at least look at his references—I’ve checked them. They’re on the level.”

Peter did raise an eyebrow as he scanned Raeken’s list of character references, a virtual _Who’s Who_ of Beacon Hills’ old guard elite. Attached was a glowing letter of introduction from one of the Hale pack’s staunchest allies. The list was almost ridiculously well-chosen and would have been suitable for an application to be his senate chief of staff. Curiously, Raeken’s list also included several omegas, which someone less intelligent than Peter might have mistaken for a hopeless gaffe. But given that the rest of the list was so bloody unimpeachable, the unorthodox move came off as modern and confident.

Peter was impressed in spite of himself. Assuming Raeken put the materials together on his own, he possessed an unusually nuanced understanding of Alpha etiquette—it was far beyond anything Derek could have managed on his best day, not that a Hale needed something as plebeian as _references_ to get access to any office in America, including the Oval Office.

Either way, it worked. Peter’s curiosity had been roused. “Well then, let’s add Mr. Raeken to the calendar.”

If he disappointed, Peter could always just kill him.

 

* * *

 

“I appreciate your seeing me, Alpha.”

Peter gestured to the seat opposite his desk. “Of course. I hope you didn’t have too much trouble parking.”

“I found a spot only three blocks away. The parking gods must have been with me.” The young Alpha winked at him.

Winked. At Peter. The head Alpha of the Hale Pack. That was awfully confident.

Peter chuckled politely, but his instinct for threat had awakened. There was something off about his guest, something unexpected. Peter greatly preferred to be the one unnerving others with unexpected behavior, and in most relations in his life he had a comfortable monopoly on that.

He examined his guest more carefully. The issue wasn’t with Raeken’s appearance. Peter spent precisely zero time pondering the relative attractiveness of his fellow Alphas, but the young man in front of him possessed exactly the kind of generic good looks you’d expect from a successful porn star. There was nothing aggressive about his body language, nothing that challenged Peter’s dominance, but there was nothing submissive either. Without seeming rude, the young man nevertheless appeared completely at ease, even smug.

Normally Peter would have attributed it to extreme stupidity, except the young man in front of him was not stupid.

Curiouser and Curiouser.

“I know we’re both quite busy,” Peter said, “so perhaps it’d be best to get straight to the point. You’d like my permission to… _approach_ Lydia and Stiles, who are currently living upstairs from you?”

The little shit had the nerve raise his eyebrows. “I’d like to do a bit more than _approach_ , but that’s the basic idea.”

Peter was not accustomed to packless beggars displaying _amusement_ at his (possibly inadvisable) deployment of euphemisms. The room went red as he imagined ripping Theo Raeken’s throat out— _vividly imagined_. The scent of his aggression filled the room. And given that Peter had spent the better part of two decades painstakingly cultivating a reputation for extreme, stomach-turning violence in defense of Hale pack interests, by rights young Raeken should have been pissing himself.

Instead, his visitor smiled blandly. Far more tellingly, his scent remained completely unchanged.

It was so extraordinary Peter could feel his own anger evaporate from sheer surprise.

Fumbling for the thread of their conversation, he said, “And you plan on doing this from the goodness of your heart?”

Raeken shrugged. “They are both extremely attractive, their looks and their scents. Any Alpha would be lucky to be allowed to _care_ for them.”

The fucker smirked knowingly as he countered Peter’s use of “approach” with his own quite proper use of “care” to encompass the many services a good Alpha performed for a pack omega.

Peter again had to fight off his instinct to attack his guest, barely managing to nod a polite _touché_.  

Alright. So that was twice in less than a minute that Theo Raeken had managed to rouse and then diffuse his anger. The young Alpha met his eye calmly, and Peter knew it had been deliberate.

Well now. Mr. Raeken _was_ full of surprises.

Peter wondered if his guest knew what it meant. Any pack as venerable as the Hales had lore. Back in the old country, there were Alphas recruited and trained specially to do nothing but care for pack omegas, a sort of _de facto_ Harem-master or mistress. Obviously such Alphas possessed the bedroom talents and stamina needed to keep omegas well-fucked and tractable. But it was a closely-guarded secret that these Alphas were initially sought out because of an unusual property in their scent that had the ability to defuse violence in other Alphas.

It was subtleties like this that fanatic bigots like the Argents couldn’t possibly understand. In their obsession with enforcing omega chastity, they understood Alpha power only in the narrowest terms—the ability to dominate and the ability to kill. There was no room for an Alpha whose main gift was for creating harmony, mostly through their talent for giving pleasure.

Peter’s ancestors would never have made such a crude error. After all, a pack by definition consisted of three or more Alphas prepared to defend their territory. These days most packs of any prestige were able to recruit at least one warrior of Derek or Braeden’s caliber. Derek was family, but accepting a powerful outsider like Braeden entailed real risks of destabilizing the pack. But with an Alpha like Theo who was able to defuse Alpha aggression, a pack could recruit even the strongest fighter without risking intra-pack challenges. Peter couldn’t help recalling that such Alphas were particularly valued because they _vastly_ increased the power and security of the pack’s head Alpha.

And really, every pack should have at least one Alpha whose sole duty was to keep the omegas sated, lest they become fretful and troublesome.

It was obvious Raeken understood the special properties of his scent, but that didn’t mean he was aware of this history. Examining his guest’s bland countenance, Peter was forced to concede that he had no clue what Theo Raeken was thinking. For the first time in his life, he was faced with an Alpha who could repel his best effort at reading him.

Not a comfortable realization.

But that didn’t mean Peter couldn’t make an informed guess, and judging merely from the odds, he decided it was unlikely that an Alpha like Theo—whose sole connection to the old-guard packs was from fucking their omegas for money—would have access to that kind of intimate knowledge of pack dynamics.

Theo was very impressive--smart, resourceful, surprising. Peter couldn’t help admiring him. And really who was Peter to disdain the boy’s profession? Even without Lydia’s coaching, he was a Hale, which meant hedonism was an article of faith for him. The Hales respected, _celebrated_ the shameless pursuit of sexual pleasure. The world would probably be an infinitely better place if more people chose an innocuous profession like sex for hire instead of more pernicious pursuits such as telemarketing or banking—or running for the United States Senate.

Moreover, Peter was willing to give every praise to young Mr. Raeken’s handling of himself tonight and for the insane level of balls that prompted him to try to parlay the random chance of Lydia moving into his building into membership in the fucking Hale pack.

With a thousand extra points for the fact that Raeken was clearly aware of the many ironies of their situation and had read Peter well enough to know he’d be intrigued by them.

But no amount of liberal thinking or Lydia’s impassioned lectures on the legitimacy of ‘sex work’ could change certain fundamentals: the young Alpha in front of him was a former porn star and a current whore. His talent for fucking had won him a stack of glowing recommendations but no offer of membership in a reputable pack.

An Alpha without a pack was quite literally nobody—his existence everything that was miserable, precarious, and short. Peter could kill him right now with no negative repercussions beyond the mess on the carpet.

The head of the Hale pack did not need Theo Raeken to expose himself to know his vulnerabilities, to practically _taste_ the desperation hidden behind the smug smile. There was a good chance that this little interview was the most important meeting of Theo’s life—and both of them knew it.

Soothed by the recollection of his own unquestionable superiority, Peter could afford to be magnanimous to a young man who had after all played his pitiful cards with unusual skill. “I think this is an excellent idea. I’d be happy to double your usual rate.”

He saw a flicker of something then—insult? “That’s very generous, but there would be no charge for this, and in any case, I only make contracts with omegas.”

“Is that so? Why ever not?” Peter couldn’t help being fascinated at this little look into the Alpha-whore profession.

“My job is to care for omegas—meet their needs. I can’t do that if I’m following an Alpha’s agenda.”

 _Well, well. So his young guest considered himself as pursuing an omega’s agenda?_ Peter sensed there was an opening here and he was determined not to waste it. He didn’t bother to hide a slightly predatory grin. “How very enlightened. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have your own goals.”

_That’s right, young Theo. If you want this, you will have to lay your cards on the table._

Theo smiled knowingly. “I get that this is a stressful time for your pack, with the election and the constant scrutiny of the press, not to mention the rising tension with the Argent pack. It makes sense that you’d take steps to make sure your omegas can live safely out of the spotlight. But that does mean they may be deprived of the level of Alpha attention and care that they deserve. I’m in a position to provide that care, and I’m sitting here, so I assume you contacted my references and found them acceptable. I’m not naïve enough to think you’d let any Alpha near your omegas that you didn’t think worthy of being in the Hale pack.”

This time the image of himself murdering Raeken came fast and hard. The desire was much stronger, as his mouth watered and Peter felt himself go hard at the thought of literally ripping the Alpha to shreds and spattering his blood and gristle into every nook and cranny in his office.

And once again, Raeken held his own—not a quiver, no change in scent. Remarkable. Good thing Peter didn’t actually want to kill him, and anyway he’d recently renovated this office and had no desire to do so again so soon. He allowed the rage to ebb, but enough was enough. Peter met Theo’s bland smile with one of his own.

“Theo, I like to thing we are all works in progress, but sadly, my temper isn’t everything that it might be. Now, that’s three times that you’ve provoked me. You have a formidable gift, and I respect this demonstration of your powers. Feel free to use them on Derek or any other Hale Alpha you happen to meet—or not. I don’t give a shit. Challenge me again, and I will rip you apart.”

“Understood, Alpha.”

“Excellent. Now, much as I admire that unorthodox bit of logic, offering to fuck Lydia or Stiles does not make you Hale pack.”

Peter was no longer surprised that Theo betrayed no reaction to this, but the little shit clearly thought he was up to playing this game against Peter, who had been twisting people and events to his advantage since before his guest was in diapers. Something relaxed in him almost for the first time since Lydia had left him, as he saw a path to a little petty revenge against her--and Theo while he was at it.

“I admit I’m intrigued by your offer,” he continued. “However, it’s not quite that simple. I gathered from your list of references that you’ve mostly… _made contracts_ with mated omegas rather than _pack_ omegas—do I have this correct?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“No surprise there—very few packs claim omegas these days. More’s the pity. There’s something so heartbreaking in the thought of an omega with no Alpha, all on their own with no one to care for them. Unfortunately, as I’m sure you’re aware, omegas are very susceptible to all sorts of odd… fancies. For example, the two in question have both taken it into their heads that they can live without an Alpha’s protection. Ridiculous I know, but that’s omegas for you.”

It was Peter’s turn to wink at Theo, a nice bit of turnabout. He got to his feet, pacing dramatically, the better to channel his inner blowhard—he hoped young Raeken found it _very_ edifying.

“Now, I for one consider it a matter of pride that the Hales have a long history of attracting the most difficult, high-maintenance omegas. And as much as possible I try to indulge them. At all costs I prefer to avoid pointless arguments over omega whims. Hence the compromise of their current residence in your building. I _was_ willing for them to learn the hard way what it is like not to have an Alpha constantly available to satisfy them, but I can also see the advantage of having some trustworthy person, not officially affiliated with the Hale pack, who could see to their intimate needs. And assuming that individual showed _discretion_ and was protective of our interests, he or she might well be asked to join the Hale pack.”

_Choke on that, Theo Raeken._

Peter couldn’t help an unholy amusement at his own bullshit. Lydia would have tried to stab him through the throat if she’d heard it, but of course young Raeken had no choice but to sit quietly with a polite smile on his face.

Honestly, Peter was becoming more and more amused by the idea of making a professional whore part of the Hale pack, but that was no reason to make it easy. Power had its privileges, chief of which was to obtain immediate, concrete advantages for oneself in exchange for vague offers of future benefits that could be rescinded at any time.

Theo nodded smoothly, easily recognizing the corner he’d just been backed into. “I understand, Alpha. I appreciate your time.”

Peter chuckled at the noncommittal response—and really what else could the boy say? “Oh, it’s been my pleasure. And if you do end up _approaching_ them, best of luck.”

He would need it.

Once his visitor was gone, Peter allowed himself a few moments to digest how close he’d come to being outmatched in his own office by an upstart, beta-born, packless whore.

Well, at least there was novelty to it. Works in progress indeed.

Far more pleasant was the picture of Lydia flushed and languid from having been fucked by a bone fide professional, Stiles perhaps tied to the bed next to her, moaning in desperation. If he’d read Theo right, the three of them would be fucking like rabbits by dinnertime.

Then again, there was always a chance that Theo’s pro-omega scruples would force him to avoid his two wayward omegas, which would be disappointing. No. Peter refused to believe it. No Alpha in Raeken’s position could afford to pass up even a chance to join a pack as powerful and prestigious as the Hales. And Raeken was a smug little fucker: he’d convince himself he could use his charm to finesse Lydia—which good luck with that.  

Theo had admirable self-control, but even he couldn’t completely disguise such an enormous conflict of interest from his angel. Lydia would sense that something didn’t add up about the Alpha, that there was an agenda he wasn’t owning up to, but Peter very much doubted she’d prove any better at penetrating young Raeken’s bland exterior than he had.

The upshot being that Theo Raeken was going to drive Lydia absolutely bonkers, and wasn’t that a pleasant thought.

Peter would have scoffed at the notion that he felt any bitterness towards Lydia for leaving him. Omegas were marvelous creatures but who could fathom what went through their heads? Lydia might be a top student at Stanford but she harbored the prejudices of her petit bourgeois, omega-dominated upbringing. And the poor dear was pregnant too: who could blame her for panicking and jumping to all sorts of absurd conclusions?

(Not all of which were as absurd as they should be. Peter was forced to concede that he had been practically out of his mind after Gerard Argent’s announcement that he would seek Talia’s old seat. Though he’d never make such a monstrous miscalculation normally, he was uncomfortably aware that he might well have forced a collar on her if he’d caught her trying to leave that day instead of Derek.)

He missed Lydia, at times almost unbearably, but it was probably for the best that she’d left. With this blasted Senate race, he was in no state to give her the attention she deserved. And Peter was far too damaged to be a fit mate to any omega, let alone one as rare and brilliant as Lydia Martin. Given Lydia’s insatiable appetite and the unreliability of birth control for omegas, he’d rather hoped that Derek might get her pregnant and claim her. His nephew didn’t deserve her, but with a mate and a child to occupy him, maybe he’d finally throw off his insufferable moodiness. And with her ambition and intelligence, she’d be an incredible asset to the pack, especially once Peter won this race.

Peter could only chuckle at his nephew’s incalculable perversity. Because instead of Lydia Martin, Derek in all his wisdom had set his sights on _Stiles_ , a homeless rent boy, who’d fuck _literally_ any Alpha who paid him twenty dollars, and Derek _still_ somehow failed to get the boy to willingly accept a Hale Pack collar. Unbelievable.

But Peter had known for a long time that his nephew was hopeless, so now Lydia fell to Braeden. It was only a guess that Braeden had gotten her pregnant, but Peter was sure he was right. So be it. His head of security was a fine Alpha, and though not family, she was absolutely loyal to the Hales and unconventional enough to suit Lydia’s nonsensical notions about omega independence.

But if his darling girl thought her move to a rundown tenement across town was enough to break her ties to him, she was deluding herself. He wasn’t stupid enough to shove it in her face. He had no desire to crush her, and no Hale ever went so far as to truly earn an omega’s hatred.

So let her create her little omega pack with Derek’s pet and enjoy the pleasures of being properly fucked by his new informal harem-master, Theo Raeken.

She would discover the truth one of these days and when it happened she could squawk all she wanted about the injustice of it. That didn’t change that he held all the power—it was _his_ choice whether she was pack, and he’d be damned if he’d let her go.

 


End file.
